Reviews by assman79:

More User Reviews:

poured 12 oz bottle into chalice. Vintage 2012 which was bottled in 2011.

A - Muddy dark rust color with a 1.5 finger dirty white head. Suspended floaties are noticed by the careful observer. Great retention that slowly fades into a collar. Thick webs of lacing coat the glass. Did I mention that this is 3 years old?

S - Thick caramel and toffee make up the sweetness. Dark fruits with a nice earthy, piney aroma from the hops.

T -Even after 3 years in the bottle this still has a bitterness to it along with some alcohol. It is pleasant because of the caramel and toffee mixed with some dark fruit. Hints of citrus and pine make up a bitter finish.

M - Medium body with soft carbonation. A bit warming.

O - I've had this fresh, but it is much better after sitting two years. This is easily the best barleywine brewed in WI. I prefer it over BBBW. It ages masterfully and I wish I had more bottles.

T: I would say the taste is a bit rough around the edge. Sweet toffee/caramel, roasty toasty malt, with dry hopped mixed right in. All the notes presented all at once, felt like they were all competing to be the star

F: Semi chewy, but finish so thin.

O: Since I've had a few vintage of CW's barleywine, I have been wanting to go to this one for a comparison. I feel like I get the lineage now.

I drank some of this down at a LL over at Old Fashioned in Madison and I gotta say it was pretty darn tasty. Being fresh, this had some distracting alcohol notes, and some unwanted overly fruity yeasty qualities, but I would gamble that over time, this beer would really become something.

As is stands, just days after its release, this Barley Wine is surprisingly drinkable and enjoyable. The aroma is deeply malty and loaded with caramel and toffee. Its buttery, boozy, and mildly citric, a quality that comes through more in the taste then anything.

Flavorwise, this is one beer where temperature really matters. The entire profile changes as the beer warms from biting citric and pine with a solid caramel base to more creamy and tropical fruit notes. Pineapple comes through and mingles with the piney hops and caramel to make this one a real treat.

Pours a nice amber red color with a fizzy off-white colored head leaving trace amount of lacing. Smells of caramel, dark fruits, cherries, strawberries, and hint of vanilla. Taste is much of the same, complex and sweet, but not cloying. A hint of hops is detected as well as a small amount of alcohol warmth. Mouthfeel would be perfect, it's full bodied and smooth, but there is just way too much carbonation. Drinkability suffers from the carbonation levels as well; otherwise this would be a damn near perfect beer to me.

Thanks to czoch for this bottle in a trade. Cheers to Clint!
Pours dark amber with a slight head. Smells very sweet and the taste is also dominated by sweetness and fruitiness. The mouthfeel is very smooth with an appropriate amount of carbonation. The alcohol content is pretty well hidden but this is a sipper for sure. Solid barleywine but not spectacular.

Appearance: Dark, murky orange with long-lasting head ans some nice lacing, especially for a Barleywine.

Smell: Toffee and caramel, with layers of orange on top, and of course the requisite Barleywine booze.

Taste: Fabtastic malt complexity of toffee, caramel and a strong pungent fruitiness of plum and raisins. Citrusy hops provide a great counterbalance and leave light lasting impression of spiciest and bitterness.

I just picked up a 12oz bottle of this one at Riley's in Madison, WI last week. My bottle had an extra sticker which indicated it was an '07. Riley's also had some '06 which I didn't buy.

It pours a very clear deep amber color with very little head. My first impression was that this barleywine leans more toward the sweet side than the hoppy side, but there is some bitterness in there, and it's not extremely malty like a Thomas Hardy or JW Lees Harvest. Hmmm, maybe this BW is in the middle? I often prefer hoppy BW's, but I thoroughly enjoy an expertly-brewed malty version as well. Whatever the case, hats off to Central Waters with the Y2K! This is a superb brew. The aroma of caramelized tropical fruits is incredible! The taste further supports the aroma. I'm not getting a big hop aroma, flavor, or a strong bitterness. Instead, the wonderful, clean, sweet, fruity, aroma/flavor is king here with just enough bitterness to balance things out. This is certainly a "sipper" that just gets better and better as it warms.

A- This beer has an auburn red clear body but it is a bit dense. There is a gentle carbonation of tiny bubbles that are still visible. The thin little tan head last a good while and leaves a set of sticky rings on the glass after each sip.

S- This beer has a slight medicinal cough syrup smell with an alcohol smell with some toasted malt notes in the background.

T- The spicy alcohol taste blends with some toasted malt flavors and some slightly sweet caramel malt hints. This flavor is quickly cut off by the big alcohol finish.

M- There is a medium-full mouthfeel with an alcohol heat that really increases as this beer warms.

D- I'm surprised this beer is this old, the alcohol dominates the malt flavors. The alcohol is not really fusel but it is pretty bitey.